Part of the Florida Geographic Alliance's collection of lesson plans.

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

KATE O'NEILL

Purpose

These five lessons are the first week of a two week short unit on Hawaii as one of the fifty states. In the first week the students will be introduced to the islands through their location, topography, and their early history. The second week will continue the history bringing them through statehood and up to the present time. They will learn that Hawaii is very unique but is still part of the United States.

Objectives

• The students will find the islands on several different maps.
• They will find out how many islands there are, what the name of each island is and also recognize the fact that Hawaii is our only island state.
• The students will make a vocabulary chart of new words and be able to use the words appropriately.
• The students will study volcanos and will learn how they created the islands. They will build a volcano and find out what happens when it erupts.
• The students will find the state bird and flower while studying the natural habitat of the islands.
• They will research to find out about some of the foods which the several ethnic groups have brought to the island.
• The students will improve their letter writing skills by writing to their pen pals in Hawaii and asking them questions.
• The students will strengthen their individual work skills and their group skills by working in centers both individually and cooperatively.

Materials

• large sheets of colored paper for folders
• globe
• world map
• U.S. map
• map of Hawaii
• Volcano materials: chicken wire, newspaper cut in strips, flour and water for paste, baking soda, vinegar, food color
• Foods: pineapple, taro root for poi, poi pounder (mortar and pestle), star fruit, mangos, guava jelly, rice, passion fruit, wok
• Videos:
  • Portrait of America: Hawaii
  • "Volcano Watchers"
  • "Volcanic Landscapes"
  • "Kazmaro Brothers tape of Hawaiian Music"
• Books:
  • Japanese Americans - Peoples of North America series
  • Philippines - Cultures of the World Series
  • America the Beautiful - Hawaii
  • Enchantment of America - Hawaii Sea to Shining Sea - Hawaii
  • U.S. Regions - Ocean Lands
  • The Pacific by John Grabowski
  • Homes in Hot Places by Alan James
  • Lon PO PO by Ed Young
  • Volcano by Patricia Lauber
  • True Book of Volcanos
• References:
  • Hawaiian Dictionary by Harvey Hitchcock
  • Polynesian Mythology by George Grey
  • The Last Princess

Procedures

1. The students will watch a travel video on Hawaii.
2. We will make two charts, one of what we already know about Hawaii and one of things we want to know.
3. We will find the islands on a world and U.S. map identifying the Pacific Ocean, counting the islands, and figuring out why Alaska and Hawaii are always put into boxes at the bottom of U.S. maps.
4. We will label the islands on a large wall map.
5. The students will identify the islands and write the names on individual maps.
6. Students will make a folder to keep all the materials we work on while studying Hawaii.

DAY 2:

1. Read the legend of Pele, goddess of the volcanos. Discuss whether it is fact or fiction. Discuss the parts about Pele getting angry if things are removed from the islands.
2. Discuss what would happen if everyone who went to Hawaii came home with dirt or rocks or plants. Fill a bucket with sand, pebbles, leaves, sticks, etc. Give each student a small baggie and have them take a few things. Note how this depletes the land and is applicable right here at home and not just in Hawaii.
3. Have books on volcanos available. Research what a volcano is and show how the lava comes out and destroys everything in its path. Use one of the volcano videos or parts thereof.
4. At a center you can begin constructing the volcano.
5. At another center the students can draw a picture of Pele and retell her story.
6. The students can also draw and label the parts of a volcano. Keep all work in the folders.

1. On a world map find the Polynesian Islands and discuss how these people could have gotten to Hawaii, routes they took, why they would leave their islands, how they could navigate, etc. Also discuss what they might have brought with them to the islands.
2. Read a section on Captain Cook and how he came to explore the islands. Find out about the missionaries who came and how they introduced the muu-muu to the native peoples. Research the Americans who started the pineapple plantations.
3. Research the Japanese and Philippine migrations to the island (A lot came to work on the plantations).
4. On a world map have the students trace the different routes in different colors. They can repeat the process with individual maps.
5. The students can continue working at existing centers and can also write a story pretending they are one of the people coming to Hawaii and tell how and why they came, and what they brought with them.

1. Using travel brochures and magazines students will find pictures of plants and animals in Hawaii. They will glue these onto poster board, classifying them. They can turn them into postcards, writing a message on the back explaining what the picture is about. They will design a stamp using the state bird (nene goose), flower (hibiscus), or flag.
2. We will make a list of foods popular in Hawaii and plan a luau. They will decide what to eat, find pictures and decorations to put up, research games to play, and find some music to have playing.
3. We will review the charts we made at the beginning and see if we found the answers to our questions. We will also talk about writing to our pen pals to get more information.
4. Work in centers finishing up projects.

1. Today we will make the volcano erupt showing how the lava flows down the mountain, builds up, buries things in its path etc. The students can then figure out about the safety of living by an active volcano and see what happens to the vegetation. We will watch more of the video and I have pictures of the plants coming up around the volcano.
2. We will take taro root and using a mortar and pestle pound it to make poi. (Don't make too much, it isn't a favorite)
3. We will cut up fruits to fry and cook rice in a rice cooker. We can then use a frying pan or wok to make fried rice so they can try some of each.
4. While eating we can watch the travel video, listen to the music, try some hula dancing, or play a few games from the Philippines.

Extension

The next week we will go on to study how Hawaii is a modern thriving state. We will study about how it became a state, what it is like today and how the people live today. This will finish a two week unit on Hawaii.

Teacher Information

Foods: You can get the fruits for a fruit plate in local grocery stores. I used papaya, mangos, pineapple, coconut, star fruit, guavas, and bananas. I also got some sugar cane.

For the poi I peeled taro root and just mashed it up. That takes a while so if you can find bags of the pre- mashed which you add water to it is easier. Poi is eaten with the fingers and is often fed to babies. It is an extremely nutritious food. It doesn't taste like wallpaper paste, wallpaper paste has a little more flavor.

For the fried rice I just heat oil in a fry pan (electric) or wok and throw in diced onion, broccoli, celery, carrots, etc., and cook until crisp tender. Then add a little diced up cooked chicken or ham. Add enough rice to feed everyone (the rice is already cooked). Stir together until heated and then throw in soy sauce to taste.

Part of the Florida Geographic Alliance's collection of lesson plans.